AUTHORS NOTE!

How is everyone?

Thanks for all the reviews on the last chapter :)

CHRISTMAS IS NEXT WEEK! YAY!

Here's the next chapter!

Enjoy!

-Rach ;)

Max's POV

We were all sent to the Great Hall. The Gryffindor students were only there for a few short minutes before we were joined by everyone from Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Slytherin, and all of them were really confused. I spotted Ethan in the crowd with his friends, and when he saw me staring at him, he came over and said, "Max, what's happening? Flitwick came into our common room and told us we had to go here. He said it was an emergency."

I grimaced, and said, "Sirius Black tried to get into the Gryffindor common room." Ethan gasped, and was soon joined by his friends. "Are you serious?" Ethan asked. "What is it? What happened?" one of his friends asked. "Sirius Black is in the castle," Ethan told him. They all started whispering, and gasping.

"The teachers need to undertake a search on the castle," Dumbledore said, as the other teachers started closing the doors. "I'm afraid, for everyone's safety, that you will all have to sleep here tonight. I ask the prefects to stand guard outside, and I will leave the Head Boy and Girl in charge of everything in here. If anything should happen, it should be reported to me immediately," he added to Percy, who was looking very important, with his chest puffed out.

Dumbledore walked towards the doors, and before he left, he turned around and said, "Ah, yes, you'll be needing..." He waved his wand, and the hall was suddenly full with sleeping bags, and the four house tables were pushed up against the wall. "Sleep well," Dumbledore beamed, and closed the door behind him.

Straight away, a buzzing sound filled the hall. The Gryffindor's were telling the other houses what happened. Ethan looked at me, and said, "I'm going to go over there. I'll see you later, Max." He smiled at the other five, and followed his friends over to the other side of the hall, where the Ravenclaw table usually was.

"Everyone pick a sleeping bag and get into them! Got to sleep!" Percy shouted. I noticed a girl standing next to him, who must of been the Head Girl, rolling her eyes. Finally, someone who had responsibility equal to Percy, who didn't like him. I loved that girl.

"C'mon," Fang said, and we followed him to where the sleeping bags were left. We all grabbed one each, and went to the furthest corner in the hall.

"Do you think Black is still in the castle?" Hermione asked, taking off her robes, staying in her jumper, and putting it under her head, using it as a pillow. "Dumbledore thinks so," Iggy said, staring at the ceiling. "It's lucky he picked tonight," I said. They all stared at me. "Think of it. Tonight was the Halloween feast, so we were in the Hall longer then usual. If it was any other night, everyone would of been in the common room."

"Reckon he lost track of time," Ron yawned. "Didn't know that it was Halloween. If he knew, he could of come bursting into the hall."

Hermione shuddered, and pulled the sleeping bag up to her chin.

We stayed quiet, listening to everyone else talking. It was all the same thing. How did he get in?

A Ravenclaw not that far away was saying, "Maybe he knows how to Apparate. You know, appear out of no where." A Hufflepuff said, "He could of disguised himself." "Flown in," Dean Thomas said. Hermione scoffed, and said, "Really, am I the only one that's read Hogwarts, A History?" Together, the five of us all said, "Yup."

"Why?" Fang asked. "There are more things then just walls protecting this castle, you know. Enchantments, you know. To stop people entering by stealth. You can't just Apparate in, or Disapparate out. And remember what Dumbledore said at the start of the year? No disguise can fool the Dementors. Also, they'd would be able to see anyone flying over the walls. And Filch knows all the secret passageways, he has them all covered."

"The lights are going out now!" Percy yelled. "Everyone stop talking and go to sleep!"

"Hey, Percy," I shouted. "Shut the bloody hell up!" There was laughter around the hall, and Percy glared at me. He opened his mouth to yell at me, but all the candles went out, and the hall was dissolved in darkness. The only light was from the ghosts, floating around the room and talking to the prefects occasionally, and the enchanted ceiling above us, shining with stars. There was still whispering around the Hall.

About half an hour later, I could hear Iggy snoring beside me. Every hour or so, a teacher would come in to check that everything was alright. When it was three in the morning, many people had fallen asleep. I was finding it impossible to close my eyes. It was only Iggy that had fallen asleep out of the six of us, but I think Ron was close to falling asleep.

The doors to the Great Hall opened, and Professor Dumbledore strolled in. He walked right up to Percy, who had taken to walking around people's sleeping bags, and telling them off if they were still asleep.

"Any sign of him, Professor?" Percy asked in his best I'm-so-brilliant voice. "I'm afraid not, Mr Weasley. All is well here?" Dumbledore said.

"I have everything under control, sir."

"Good. There is no point in bringing everyone back to their common rooms now. I have found a temporary guardian for the Gryffindor common room. You can escort them back first thing in the morning."

"And what of the Fat Lady, sir?"

"She's hiding in a painting on the second floor. She told us that Sirius Black tried to get in, but she wouldn't let him in without the password, so he attacked. She is highly distressed, but Mr Filch agreed that once she has calmed down, he will restore her."

The door creaked open once more, and there was more footsteps to where Dumbledore and Percy were standing. "Headmaster?" It was Snape's drawling voice. "All of the third floor has been searched. There was no sign of him there. Filch searched the dungeons. He wasn't there either."

"What about the Astronomy Tower? Or Sybil's room? The Owlery?"

"All searched. Nothing."

"Very well. Thank you Severus. I never expected Black to linger."

"Have you any thoughts on how Black managed to get into the castle, Headmaster?" Snape asked.

I raised my head slightly to hear better. "I have many theories, Severus, and each are as unlikely as the next."

I opened my eyes a small bit, and saw that Snape was looking furious. "I'm sure you remember the conversation we had before this term started," Snape said, barely moving his lips, probably trying to block Percy from the conversation. "Of course I do Severus," Dumbledore said, with a hint of warning in his voice.

"It seems impossible that Black entered the castle without any help, Headmaster. I did express my thoughts with you when I found out you appointed-"

"I have no reason to believe that anybody in this school would aid Sirius Black enter," Dumbledore said, with a tone that made it clear that there should be no more comments on the matter. "I need to talk to the Dementors," he went on. "I need to tell them that our search is complete."

Dumbledore walked out of the Hall, and Snape stayed standing for a moment, watching the back of Dumbledore's head with resentment. After a moment, he followed Dumbledore out of the Hall. Percy stood there, looking so proud of himself that he was involved in a conversation like that one. Merlin, he was so thick.

I glanced sideways at Harry, Ron, Hermione and Fang. Iggy was snoring quietly beside Ron.

"What was that about?" Fang asked.

For the next few days, the entire school talked of nothing but Sirius Black. Peoples theories of how he entered the school became wilder, and frankly, just plain stupid. Hannah Abbott, a Hufflepuff girl in our year, was saying that Black was able to take the appearance of a flowery shrub. I even heard Terry Boot, a Ravenclaw boy that was friends with Ethan, saying, "I reckon that Black turned into a Christmas tree, and waited for someone to take it inside, you know, seeing as its close to Christmas." Honestly, I thought the Ravenclaws were the smart ones!

The Fat Lady's ripped painting was removed from the wall and replaced with the portrait of Sir Cadogan and his fat grey pony. Nobody likes this very much. Sir Cadogan spent most of the day challenging people to duels, and the rest of the time making up stupid password, and he changed the password at least three times a day.

"He's a nutter," Iggy told Percy one night in the common room. "Why didn't you get someone else?"

"The other paintings all heard what happened to the Fat Lady, and were too scared to do the job. Sir Cadogan was the only one brave enough to do it."

Over the next few days, I noticed the teachers were paying more attention to Harry. They would watch him as we walked down the corridor, and out of the corner of they're eyes, they'd watch him during class. Also, Percy Weasley, probably on the orders of Mrs Weasley, was following Harry in the corridors like an annoying dog.

To top everything that was happening to him, Harry was called into McGonagall's office when we were walking past on our way to lunch. Ron, Hermione, Fang, Iggy and I waited outside the office door. After a couple of minutes, I heard Harry's outraged voice saying, "But Professor, our first match is on Saturday! I've got to train!"

I felt my stomach flip. I rarely got nervous, but I didn't want to let my House down.

There was more silence for a few minutes, then the door opened, and Harry walked out, followed by McGonagall. When she saw all of us waiting, she said, "Come on now, down to lunch." We walked to the Great Hall. When we sat down, Fang asked, "What was that about?"

"McGonagall told me that Black is after me. I told her I already knew, but then she wanted me to stop practicing Quidditch. I convinced her I needed to go, but now Madam Hooch will be at all the training sessions."

"That doesn't matter, Harry! Were still going to smash Slytherin in the match on Saturday," I said, wolfing down my food.

"Yeah, Slytherin don't stand a chance."

Gradually, over the rest of the week, the weather got worse and worse. Not even phased by this, the Gryffindor team only trained harder and harder under the supervision of Madam Hooch. On the final training session before the match, Oliver Wood came into the changing rooms, looking outraged.

"Were not going to be playing Slytherin!" he said, looking furious. "Flint just told me. Were playing Hufflepuff."

"Why?" The twins asked, followed by the rest of the team. "Flint is saying that his Seeker is still injured," Wood said. "That's not true!" I said, standing beside Wood. "They just don't want to play in this weather!" Wood nodded and said, "I know Max. There's nothing we can do though. Flint told Madam Hooch that Malfoy's arm hasn't fully recovered."

"Malfoy's arm is fine! He's faking it!" Harry snapped, outraged. "We all know that, but there isn't anything we can do to prove it," Wood said. "And we've spent the last few weeks practicing all these moves thinking we were playing Slytherin. Hufflepuff have a completely different style. They have a new Seeker, and captain. Cedric Diggory-"

Angelina and Katie both started giggling. "What?" Wood asked, not liking the sudden lighthearted behavior.

"Cedric is the tall, good-looking one, right?" Katie said.

"Silent, strong and handsome," Angelina said, and they both started giggling again. I rolled my eyes,and smirked at the girly behavior.

"Only silent because he's too thick to put two words together," Fred said. I've never heard him talk so seriously. "Don't worry about it, Oliver. Hufflepuff are easy. Last time we played them, and Harry had the Snitch caught in about five minutes."

"That was in different conditions!" Wood yelled, a mad glint in his eyes. "Diggory put a really good team together! And he's an amazing Seeker. We can't relax! We need to keep focus! We have to win!"

"Oliver! Calm down!" I said, kind of alarmed. "We'll win. Don't worry. We'll win this."

The Friday before the match, the winds had reached howling point, and the rain was battering against the windows. It got so dark in the castle that the teachers had to light more torches and lamps. The only happy looking people to be seen in the castle were the Slytherins, especially Malfoy.

"Oh dear, if only my arm was better!" he would exclaim whenever he past anyone that was on the Gryffindor team.

There was no space in any of our minds to be thinking of anything. In between every class, Oliver Wood would run up to me and Harry and give us tips for the match the next day. The third time this happened, the other went on without us, and it was only me, Harry and Oliver left in the corridor. It took me a few minutes to realize that we were several minutes late for Defense Against the Dark Arts. I whacked Harry and showed him my watch. We both started running down the hall, leaving Oliver where he standing, saying, "Harry, Diggory has a fast swerve so you need to loop around him!"

I skidded to a stop outside the Dark Arts classroom, Harry behind me, puffing for air. I pulled open the door and rushed inside, and Harry closed it after he came through. "Sorry were late, Professor Lupin, we-" I started, but the words dyed in my mouth. It wasn't Lupin standing at the front of the class.

It was Snape.

"This lesson began fifteen minutes ago, Potter, Ride. Twenty points from Gryffindor. Sit down."

Neither me or Harry moved. "Why are you here?" I asked, not caring what Snape would do to me. Snape glared at me, but didn't say anything. "Where's Professor Lupin?" Harry asked. Snape glared at the both of us, then said, "Professor Lupin is feeling ill today. Now sit down." Neither of us moved. "What's wrong with him?" we both asked at the same time. Snape's eyes flashed dangerously. "Nothing life threatening. Ten more points from Gryffindor, and if you don't do as I tell you, it will be fifty."

Harry and I shared a look, then sat at the back of the class.

"As I was saying before we were interrupted, Professor Lup

in has failed to leave any note on what you've covered so far-"

"Sir, we've covered Boggarts, Red Caps, Kappas, and Grindylows," Hermione said, ticking them off her finger as she said them.

"Miss Granger, I was not asking for information. I was commenting on Professor Lupin's poor organization skills. Today, we shall be discussing..." Snape started flicking through the textbook in front of him, and when he landed on a page, he smirked darkly. Oh boy, this won't be good.

"...Werewolves," he drawled. Oh brilliant. Of all the animals he had to pick, it was freaking werewolves. Bloody freaking fantastic.

"But sir," Hermione said from the seat in front of me, "Were were just about to start on Hinkeypunks."

"Miss Granger, I thought I was the one teaching this class, not you. And I'm telling you all to open your books to page 394!" he snapped. With a lot of hatred muttering, everyone scrambled to get their books from their bags. Fang and Iggy looked at me from the seats in front of us, and we shared a dark look. We weren't the biggest fans of wolf like creatures. Together, the three of us stacked our hands under the table, and tapped them each. We grinned, and opened our books.

"Are any of you able to tell me what the difference between a real wolf, and a werewolf," Snape asked. Hermione's hand shot into the air, and after a moments though, I put my hand up as well. Hermione makes me read the textbooks before I go to sleep at night. That girl will make a great politician when she's older. She has a way of making stubborn people (such like me) do anything she wanted.

"No one?" Snape said, ignoring me and Hermione's hands. I coughed loudly and obviously, but he still ignored us. "Are you telling me that Professor Lupin hasn't even told you the simple difference between-"

"We haven't gotten to werewolves yet. Hermione told you everything we've covered," Fang snapped. Him and Hermione were very close and he always stuck up for her when someone said anything bad about her.

"Quiet Martinez!" Snape snarled. "I never thought I'd see a third-year class that could't tell the difference-"

"Please, sir. They differ in many small ways. One way is that the snout of the werewolf-," Hermione started, her hand still in the air, but Snape interrupted her. "That is the second time you've interrupted my class, Miss Granger. Five points from Gryffindor for being an insufferable know-it-all." Hermione put her head down, her cheeks flaming, and tears in her eyes.

Rage flooded through me. I couldn't believe him! What a- what a- I couldn't even think of an insult good enough for him!

"You asked her a question, and she knew it," Ron said. "Why did you ask if you didn't want to know the answer?"

Snape advanced on Ron, and glared at him. "Detention, Weasley. If you ever question the way I teach again, you'll be very sorry."

For the rest of the class, we took notes notes on werewolves. As I read about them, I couldn't help but be reminded of something. And it wasn't the Erasers...But every time I came close to the answer, it slipped away.

At the end of class, Snape told us to write an essay about werewolves, and he made Ron stay back to give him his detention. We waited outside for him, and when he came out, he was furious. "Can you guess what that- " he called Snape a name that made me burst into laughter, and Hermione say, `Ron!' - "Is making me do? I have to scrub out the bedpans in the hospital wing! Without magic! Wish Black could of broken into Snape's office! Finish him off for all of us!"

The next morning, I woke up early. My wings were stretched out behind me. I always let them out when I was sleeping, and I closed the curtains so Lavender and Pavarti couldn't see. I listened to the howling wind, and the battering of the rain on the windows for a few minutes, then I checked the time. It was seven o'clock. I knew I wouldn't be able to get back to sleep, so I sat up, folded my wings tight into my back, and changed into my uniform. I'll put the Quidditch robes on in the changing rooms.

I grabbed my Nimbus from under my bed, and went down the common room. I expected it to be empty, but Harry was sitting on the couch, holding his own Nimbus. "Why are you down here so early?" I asked. He looked up and smiled. "Couldn't sleep. Peeves came into our dormitory at half past four and woke me up. Couldn't get back to sleep after that, so I came down here."

"You've been here since half past four?" I laughed. Harry nodded, "Pretty much, yeah." I rolled my eyes. "What have you been doing all the time?" I asked. "Stopping Crookshanks from going up to our dormitory," Harry smiled. "That's just sad, Harry."

"Yeah, I know."

We passed the rest of the morning just talking. He told me about his relatives, the Dursley's, and how they would treat him. I told his some to less horrible stories of the school. We passed stories all morning, and before we knew it, it was time for breakfast. We walked down to the Great Hall with the rest of the school. As we walked out of the portrait hole, Sir Cadogan shouted, "Stop, dear sir and gentle lady! Stop and fight!"

"Oh shut up!" Harry snapped. I turned around and whacked the painting with my broomstick, then walked away, smiling at the screams from Sir Cadogan.

The rain seemed to have gotten worse from the night before. When the team met in the Entrance Hall, we all sprinted down to the changing rooms. I was soaking wet a minute after we left the shelter of the school. When we finally reached the changing rooms, we all changed in silence, shivering with the cold. I pulled my wet hair into a messy ponytail, and pulled back my fringe so it was out of my eyes.

We waited for Oliver's pre- match pep talk, but Oliver seemed to have lost the ability to speak. He tried many times, but nothing would work. Eventually, he just nodded at everyone, and led us to the pitch.

The wind was so strong we were barely able to stand upright as we walked across the pitch to probable enormous applause. We wouldn't know whether people clapped or not, as the wind was blocking out all noise. The HUfflepuffs were already there, and a tall boy with soft brown hair and grey eyes standing in the front. Him and Oliver shook hands, and he went back to his team. So that was Cedric Diggory. Now I know what Angelina and Katie were talking about. Not too shabby...

Madam Hooch mouthed the words "Mount your brooms." I swung my leg over my broom, and when I saw Madam Hooch blow into the whistle, I kicked off extra hard them usual, and soared into the air.

Hey, so sorry it was kinda long. Hope it was good!

Thanks for all the reviews on the last chapter! :)

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-Rach ;)